Ma Huan

Who is Ma Huan?

Ma Huan 馬歡;, courtesy name Chung-dao 宗道, pen name Mountain-woodcutter, was born in Kuaiji County of Zhejiang province. He was a Muslim voyager and translator who accompanied Admiral Zheng He on three of his seven expeditions to the Western Oceans. It was said he was not born Muslim, but was a Chinese who converted to Islam when he was young, and his "Ma" surname had nothing to do with Muslim ancestry. He knew several Classical Chinese and Buddhist texts. He learned Arabic to be able to translate.

In the 1413 expedition, he visited Champa, Java, Sumatra, Palembang, Siam, Kochi and Hormuz.

In the 1421 expedition, he visited Malacca, Aru, Sumatra, Ceylon, Kochi, Calicut, Zufar and Hormuz.

In the 1431 expedition, he visited Bengal, Chittagong, Sonargaon, Gaur and Calicut. From Calicut, he was sent by Eununch Hong Bao as emissary to Mecca.

During his expeditions, Ma Huan took notes about the geography, politics, weather conditions, environment, economy, local customs, even method of punishment for criminals. Returned home on his first expedition, he began writing a book about his expedition, the first draft of which was ready around 1416. He expanded and modified his draft during later expeditions, the final version was ready around 1451. The title of his book was Yingyai Shenglan.